by neufer » Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:25 pm
neufer wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:04 pm
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=wisp wrote:
wisp (n.) early 14c., "handful or bundle of hay, grass, etc.," used for burning or cleaning or as a cushion; perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word, cognate with Norwegian and Swedish visp "wisp," of unknown origin; sometimes said to be connected with whisk or with Middle Low German and Middle Dutch wispel "a measure of grain." Meaning "thin, filmy portion" first attested 1836.
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whisk (n.) late 14c., "quick stroke, sweeping movement," probably from Old Norse visk "wisp of hay, something to sweep with," from Proto-Germanic *wisk- "move quickly" (source also of Danish visk "broom," Middle Dutch wisch, Dutch wis, Old High German wisc, German wisch "wisp, brush"), (source also of Czech vechet "a wisp of straw," Old English wiscian "to plait," weoxian "to clean" with a whisk or brush). Unetymological spelling with wh- is from 1570s. Meaning "implement for beating eggs, etc." first recorded 1660s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamina_Fleming wrote:
<<Williamina Paton Stevens was born in Dundee, Scotland on 15 May 1857, to Mary Walker and Robert Stevens, a carver and gilder. There, in 1877, she married James Orr Fleming, an accountant and widower, also of Dundee. The couple emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, US, when she was 21. The couple had one son, Edward Pickering Fleming.
After she and her young son were abandoned by her husband, Williamina Fleming worked as a maid in the home of Professor Edward Charles Pickering, who was director of the Harvard College Observatory. Pickering's wife Elizabeth recommended Williamina as having talents beyond custodial and maternal arts, and in 1879 Pickering hired Fleming to conduct part-time administrative work at the observatory. [
It has been said that Pickering "became so exasperated with his male assistant's inefficiency, that even his maid could do a better job of copying and computing."] In 1881, Pickering invited Fleming to formally join the HCO and taught her how to analyze stellar spectra. She became one of the founding members of the Harvard Computers, an all-women cadre of human computers hired by Pickering to compute mathematical classifications and edit the observatory's publications.
Pickering's Triangle was discovered photographically in 1904 by Williamina Fleming (after the New General Catalogue was published), but credit went to Edward Charles Pickering, the director of HCO, as was the custom of the day.
During her career, Fleming discovered a total of 59 gaseous nebulae, over 310 variable stars, and 10 novae. Most notably, in 1888, Fleming discovered the Horsehead Nebula on a telescope-photogrammetry plate made by astronomer W. H. Pickering, brother of E.C. Pickering. She described the bright nebula as having "a semicircular indentation 5 minutes in diameter 30 minutes south of Zeta Orionis". Subsequent professional publications neglected to give credit to Fleming for the discovery. The first Dreyer Index Catalogue omitted Fleming's name from the list of contributors having then discovered sky objects at Harvard, attributing the entire work merely to "Pickering". However, by the time the second Dreyer Index Catalogue was published in 1908, Fleming and her female colleagues at the HCO were sufficiently well-known and received proper credit for their discoveries.>>
[quote=neufer post_id=315318 time=1627391046 user_id=124483]
[quote=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=wisp]
[b][color=#0000FF]wisp (n.) early 14c., "handful or bundle of hay, grass, etc.," used for burning or cleaning or as a cushion; perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word, cognate with Norwegian and Swedish visp "wisp," of unknown origin; sometimes said to be connected with whisk or with Middle Low German and Middle Dutch wispel "a measure of grain." Meaning "thin, filmy portion" first attested 1836.[/color]
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[color=#0000FF]whisk (n.) late 14c., "quick stroke, sweeping movement," probably from Old Norse visk "wisp of hay, something to sweep with," from Proto-Germanic *wisk- "move quickly" (source also of Danish visk "broom," Middle Dutch wisch, Dutch wis, Old High German wisc, German wisch "wisp, brush"), (source also of Czech vechet "a wisp of straw," Old English wiscian "to plait," weoxian "to clean" with a whisk or brush). Unetymological spelling with wh- is from 1570s. Meaning "implement for beating eggs, etc." first recorded 1660s.[/color][/b][/quote][/quote][quote=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamina_Fleming]
<<Williamina Paton Stevens was born in Dundee, Scotland on 15 May 1857, to Mary Walker and Robert Stevens, a carver and gilder. There, in 1877, she married James Orr Fleming, an accountant and widower, also of Dundee. The couple emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, US, when she was 21. The couple had one son, Edward Pickering Fleming.
After she and her young son were abandoned by her husband, Williamina Fleming worked as a maid in the home of Professor Edward Charles Pickering, who was director of the Harvard College Observatory. Pickering's wife Elizabeth recommended Williamina as having talents beyond custodial and maternal arts, and in 1879 Pickering hired Fleming to conduct part-time administrative work at the observatory. [[b][color=#0000FF]It has been said that Pickering "[i]became so exasperated with his male assistant's inefficiency, that even his maid could do a better job of copying and computing.[/i]"[/color][/b]] In 1881, Pickering invited Fleming to formally join the HCO and taught her how to analyze stellar spectra. She became one of the founding members of the Harvard Computers, an all-women cadre of human computers hired by Pickering to compute mathematical classifications and edit the observatory's publications.
[float=left][img3=NASA photograph of the Cygnus Loop in ultraviolet light]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Cygnus_Loop_Labeled.png[/img3][/float]
:arrow: [b][color=#0000FF]Pickering's Triangle was discovered photographically in 1904 by Williamina Fleming (after the New General Catalogue was published), but credit went to Edward Charles Pickering, the director of HCO, as was the custom of the day. [/color][/b]
During her career, Fleming discovered a total of 59 gaseous nebulae, over 310 variable stars, and 10 novae. Most notably, in 1888, Fleming discovered the Horsehead Nebula on a telescope-photogrammetry plate made by astronomer W. H. Pickering, brother of E.C. Pickering. She described the bright nebula as having "a semicircular indentation 5 minutes in diameter 30 minutes south of Zeta Orionis". Subsequent professional publications neglected to give credit to Fleming for the discovery. The first Dreyer Index Catalogue omitted Fleming's name from the list of contributors having then discovered sky objects at Harvard, attributing the entire work merely to "Pickering". However, by the time the second Dreyer Index Catalogue was published in 1908, Fleming and her female colleagues at the HCO were sufficiently well-known and received proper credit for their discoveries.>>[/quote]